


Meeting of the Minds: Ackerhardt

by lonely_no_more



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Ackerhardt AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Family, Gen, upped rating for language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-01-20 18:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1521656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonely_no_more/pseuds/lonely_no_more
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikasa and Annie, through the collective effort of their love and will, have decided to start a family. Things vary from adjusting easily to living arrangements to trying to determine who will kill who first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A combination of chapters and drabbles; this work is a labor of love. I was encouraged by the phenomenal Shinji Shazaki and I cannot thank them enough for all their advice and encouragement. I hope I do justice to my own idea.

[X]

**October 5, Sina General Hospital, Maternity Ward**

**8:57 AM**

Carla Jaeger sat anxiously in the seat beside her husband, glaring at the man pacing the hallway. Her eyes were cat-like in more ways than just one. Not only were they an eerie gold color but they were sharp and observant; and the woman considered herself quite ready for what was about to happen. As she looked at her son- Eren was sitting on the other side of the hallway, tapping his foot and glancing worriedly at the door a couple feet away- she smiled and said, "Eren, go get something to eat. It'll calm your nerves." Shooting another glare at the gentleman pacing, she snapped, "And take Leonhardt with you. All his pacing is wearing on my patience."

"Excuse me," Nikolas growled, "but _my daughter_ is about to give birth. I have every right to be anxious and pace."

" _My daughter_ ," she shot back, "helped with this whole process. And like any good woman, she's there to support her spouse." Shooting a look at her always reticent husband, Carla ran her fingers through the length of her over-the-shoulder ponytail. "Grisha, has Doctor Smith told you anything?"

Pulling out his work phone, Grisha nodded. "Smith says that Annie's dilated up to a 4. She's entering active phase. We'll be here for a few more hours, no doubt." He raised an eyebrow at Nikolas. "Go eat with Eren. It will help your nerves and everyone else's. Besides that, you can go tell everyone in the waiting room how it's going." As a doctor himself, Grisha offered a wan smile and said, "Honestly. It'll be best for Annie as well if you're not worked up."

At the mention of Annie's welfare, the blonde man nodded in agreement and motioned toward Eren. As they walked off, the twenty-five-year-old glanced back at his parents. Grisha was looking at his work phone but Carla was staring after the two men with a worried look on her face. Her eyebrows were drawn and her lips were pulled into a tight smile. Eren knew that look. He glanced at Nikolas and asked, "Annie's own mom had complications giving birth? That why you're so worried?" When the older man nodded, Eren finally noticed how the hair at the man's temples was beginning to whiten. "Annie's strong. She's gonna make it without a problem."

"I know she's strong," Nikolas replied softly, "but what will strength do if her body tears and she loses too much blood?" He sighed. "My apologies. I just can't bear the thought of losing my daughter."

Eren slapped the man heavily on the back. "No worries. Annie'll be fine." As they entered the cafeteria, the young man was greeted by the various staff. One woman- a doctor, by her appearance- ran up and hugged Eren tightly. "What the- oh, hi, Petra!" He lifted the redhead off the ground and gave her a bear hug.

Nikolas watched, bemused, as the short female gave his daughter's brother-in-law a conk on the head. "Eren, where have you been? I've been missing you! All the kids miss having you do their check-ins." When Eren simply gave her an expectant grin, the doctor paused. "I mean, you only asked a couple days ago if you could take time off since your sister and her wife are- oh! Oh, that's _today_? It's happening today? Oh my gosh, Eren! You need to send me pictures- no, wait, _nevermind_! I'll come by after my shift today!" She kissed his cheek once and rushed off, shouting, "I'll be off at eight o'clock tonight!"

Seeing the look on Nikolas' face, Eren explained, "She's my boss. Kind of. I just work in the same clinic and she basically chose me as her favorite nurse." He guided the older man over to the line and said, "Get whatever you want. I'll put it on my tab." Nikolas stared blankly for a moment; otherwise, he remained silent and chose a sandwich to go with a chilled soup. As they sat down, Eren said, "Did ya ever think that your daughter and your top student dating would lead to grandchildren?" He grinned.

"No clue." Nikolas finally smiled at that, his eyes lighting up. He shuddered at the cool, refreshing taste of the soup and realized how hungry he actually was. It was then that he began eating with gusto, only to stop when he heard Eren laughing. Nikolas set his spoon down, huffing, "What?"

"You eat like a starving man," Eren laughed.

"Yes, well, you eat like a college student!" accused the older male. He pointed at the macaroni and cheese on the twenty-five-year-old's plate. Two slices of pizza sat on another plate.

"I just got out of college a couple years ago..."

"As if that matters. Doesn't mean you still need to eat as though you can't afford anything else."

"That sounds like something Annie would say. She's always picking on me!"

"Oh, really? You probably just annoy people then."

"Hey!" Eren growled. His eyes narrowed. "I'm just trying to save money. My partner and I want kids too. We even found a surrogate..." He grumbled quietly before taking a vicious bite out of his pizza.

Nikolas finished off his soup, still watching the young man carefully. "Annie told me that you've been working tirelessly on the baby's nursery." He smiled. "I saw it on my last visit. You did a great job." Nikolas, himself, had already set up a trust for his future grandchild and also bought clothes for the baby. His meal was already finished and he waited patiently for Eren to polish off his own food. "Shall we go see the others?" Eren nodded, grinning eagerly.

[X]

**October 5, Sina General Hospital, Maternity Ward**

**5:32 PM**

Erwin urged, "C'mon, Annie, you're almost done. Just one more push!"

"You said that nearly five hours ago, Smith!" Annie grit her teeth, shutting her eyes tightly. "I swear to God, if you say it one more time-!" A gripping pain caused her to groan and bear down once more. That was when a shrill cry rang through the room, causing Annie and Mikasa both to whip their heads up.

Doctor Smith smiled, easing back with the crying baby in his arms. Tears gathered in the eyes of both mothers and Annie felt a shiver go down her spine. The blonde doctor looked up and said, "Mikasa, come here. You can cut the umbilical cord."

Mikasa began to get up but paused, looking at her wife. Getting an exhausted smile in response to the unasked question, the taller woman eased out from her position holding Annie and went over to the man who had set the newborn on a raised edge table. The cord was clamped already. As she followed Erwin's instructions, she asked quietly, "Is everything done now?"

"Well, we just need to wait for the placen-" He paused at the look on Mikasa's face and laughed, "Oh, nevermind. The hard part is done. We'll just take your daughter and clean her up. Then, we'll bring her right back." He patted Mikasa on the back and instructed the nurse assisting to take the child for clean-up.

When everyone else had left the room, Mikasa went back to her spot beside Annie; she wrapped her in a protective embrace, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. "Oh, God, Annie..."

A tired chuckle came from the blonde woman and she huffed, "It felt like it took forever but it was worth it." She buried her face in the crook of Mikasa's neck. Her eyes closed and she breathed slowly. Annie smiled softly when her wife began running her fingers slowly through the blonde tresses. They both looked up when the door opened again and Annie extended her arms eagerly to accept her child. She brought the baby, swaddled in a pink blanket, close to her chest.

With one arm wrapped around Annie's shoulders, Mikasa leaned over and brushed a finger lightly over the flushed cheeks of the little girl. She felt her own cheeks grow warm when two tiny hands stretched out and a soft whine cut the silence. Mikasa murmured softly, "I think...she might be hungry..." She chuckled softly at the way Annie turned to shoot a glare but she ducked her head for a quick kiss. "We'll wait for you to feed her before we let anyone in. All right?"

"I appreciate it, Mika," mumbled Annie. She smiled softly and offered the child to Mikasa while she shrugged out of one sleeve of the hospital gown.

Mikasa held the child tenderly; she was bewildered by the rush of maternal feeling and found herself loving the little girl without question. Noticing that Annie was ready, the taller female gently eased their daughter back into her wife's arms. She sat back down, allowing Annie to nestle close and rest while their child fed. "We won't be sleeping normally for a while, y'know."

"I'm well aware of the fact." Annie sighed tiredly. "Nothing I'm unaccustomed to. After all, you get called in on some crazy cases sometimes."

"Homicide has no schedule," Mikasa grumbled. She began stroking Annie's hair again. A tentative knock came to the door and the women looked up tiredly. "And apparently, neither do family members." She looked over and saw that their new daughter was done and was, apparently, sleeping. Mikasa took the baby and waited for Annie to get the hospital gown back to rights. Then, she went to the door and opened it. There, beyond the threshold, stood their family and friends; everyone was full of smiles and congratulations.

For the most part, the group remained quiet to allow the newborn sleep. However, there was a certain amount of tension between Carla and Nikolas. "My daughter is the one who actually gave birth. I should get to hold her first."

Carla hissed, "Are you serious, Leonhardt? I'm the grandmother. I deserve to hold her first!"

Bertholdt, in his usual way, came up quietly beside his friends and knelt beside the hospital bed, asking, "What's her name?"

Annie looked at her wife for a brief moment before looking back at her childhood friend and replying, "Natalia." She looked back the little girl and smiled when the child opened her eyes and cooed. Her attention was brought away from little Natalia by the sound of a scuffle in the corner of the room. By that point, Grisha was already beside the two women and reaching for the baby. Annie handed her daughter to Grisha slowly, allowing him to hold the little girl. As soon as he was off in his own corner, the blonde woman snapped, " _Dad, Carla!_ " The two arguing grandparents halted their altercation and looked at the new mother. Blue eyes narrowed dangerously, Annie growled, "Stop it. I just spent over eight hours in labor. I am _tired_. And I am _not_ going to put up with the two of you arguing and upsetting my baby." Nikolas felt his mouth go dry and he looked from his daughter, to Carla, and back again. "But, sweetheart-"

"No."

Carla tried, "Annie, really, I'm-"

"Don't even, Carla. I heard you both. I'm not stupid. And, by the way, the two of you an decide who gets to hold her last. Because both of you are waiting until everyone else has held her." Annie leaned back into Mikasa and watched carefully as Natalia went from person to person. She grew slightly fussy when Sasha held her for the sole fact that Sasha couldn't seem to calm herself.

Eventually, Nikolas conceded to hold the baby last and when she was finally placed in his arms, the man stared down at her in wonder. "Hey, Tali. I'm your granddad." He smiled softly, laughing when the tiny hands came up and touched the scruff along his jaw. Nikolas whispered softly, "You're so tiny..." When she became fussy again, he stood and walked her back over to his daughter. As he placed Natalia back in Annie's arms, he kissed his daughter's forehead and murmured, "And she's so beautiful, just like her mothers." Mikasa and Annie looked at one another, smiling. The brunette then ushered everyone else out of the room to allow Annie peace and privacy to feed Tali again.

[X]


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drabble; Mikasa and Annie realize that Tali has trouble sleeping. And so do they.

Before the cry even went up, Mikasa was already awake. Her grey eyes were heavy from lack of sleep and she could feel the way her muscles twitched anxiously. Annie, on the other hand, was fast asleep. This, Mikasa suspected, was because of the many hours she had spent in labor and on adrenaline from the first two days of bringing Natalia home. However, the moment that the baby cried, Annie's eyes snapped open and she whispered, "Do you want me to-"

"No, I'll go get her. She's probably having trouble sleeping. It'll only take a quick drive through the neighborhood to get her to sleep," Mikasa replied softly. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to Annie's forehead before throwing the blanket back and tugging a shirt over her torso. "Go back to sleep. She'll be hungry in a few hours, probably and you'll have to take care of that." With that, Mikasa went to the nursery and gently scooped her crying daughter out of the crib. "C'mon, sweetheart, don't cry...let's go for a ride." She snatched one of Natalia's blankets and started down the stairs as quietly as possible. Grabbing her keys from the side table in the entry, Mikasa locked the door to keep her wife safe as she went to their car with their newborn. As soon as Tali was secured in her carseat, Mikasa placed the blanket over the little girl and kissed her forehead softly. Tali whined unhappily, kicking at her blanket. Soon after, the Asian woman got into the driver seat and backed out, taking their daughter for a drive to put the little girl to sleep.

[X]

Annie rolled over, expecting to feel Mikasa's body welcoming her for cuddles. When she didn't feel the warmth of her wife's body, the short woman rubbed her bleary eyes and mumbled, "Mikasa?" Getting out of bed, Annie stumbled down the hall to the nursery and spotted the Asian woman cradling their daughter and singing softly. It was a touching sight but the two women were already beginning to feel the straining of parenthood on their bodies. Mikasa caught sight of Annie and smiled as she sang, catching her blue eyes and making Annie smile tiredly. Eventually, Natalia drifted off again and didn't even stir when Mikasa set her back down in her crib. Quietly, Mikasa went to Annie and stood in the doorway with her; their arms slid to coil around one another's bodies as they eyed the crib warily. Annie whispered, "We should get some sleep." Without another word, the two women made their way back down the hallway with Annie's arm around Mikasa's waist and Mikasa's arm around Annie's shoulders. As they laid down, Annie curled up against the taller woman's chest and huffed a sigh against the hollow of her neck. "So, who's idea was it to have kids?"

Mikasa chuckled and cupped her wife's cheeks, raising Annie's head to give the blonde a kiss. "We agreed on this, remember?"

"For what, the first time in our lives?" Annie smiled and lightly jabbed Mikasa in the stomach. "We argue about everything but agree on kids."

"We don't argue about everything," Mikasa protested, giving a small pout, "We just enjoy bantering too much, that's all." She pulled Annie against her chest and signed into the soft blonde hair. "Do you think we should talk to Grisha about this?"

"He's not a pediatrician, he wouldn't know." "Grisha knows a lot though."

"He's a neurosurgeon. I doubt he knows if it's normal for babies to have trouble sleeping." With a yawn, Annie rolled over and scooted back against Mikasa. "We'll ask later, ok?"

Nodding against the pillow, Mikasa threw an arm over Annie's waist and closed her eyes, eager for rest.

[X]

Nikolas blinked slowly at the exhausted look on his daughter's face when she opened the door. "Good God, have you slept at all?" He stepped into their home, looking around for Mikasa and Natalia. "Where is she? I need to hold her." Nikolas halted for a moment and turned an accusing glare at his daughter. "Has Carla been here recently?"

"Not since we brought Tali home, dad, don't worry." Annie rolled her eyes when his smile returned and she said, "Honestly, the two of you are adults. Act like it. You do not need to have a petty rivalry over your grandchild."

"You don't understand, Annie, this is a dire situation. Carla seems to think she's going to be a perfect grandparent and, as much as I hate to say this-"

"You don't."

"She isn't. Because I am." Nikolas threw his arms wide upon seeing Mikasa and Natalia and cooed at the child, "There she is!" He shuffled forward and ducked his head to kiss her cheeks repeatedly. She giggled, running her tiny hands over his scruffy jaw and he grinned at Tali happily. After a moment or two, she began to whine and grasp at the air for Annie.

"She's always hungry," Annie laughed. She took her daughter gently from Mikasa and went to the living room for a little privacy.

Nikolas watched after them with a soft smile before looking back at Mikasa and saying, "C'mere, I gotta tell you something." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided Mikasa into the kitchen, asking, "You're having trouble getting Tali to sleep?"

"Yeah. I have to take her for a car ride just to get her to rest," Mikasa replied quietly.

"Here's what you do- I asked the doc about this when Annie was a baby because she had the same problem- you gotta put her in her carseat and set the carseat on top of the dryer. Turn the dryer on. It'll be like a car ride and she'll go right to sleep."

Mikasa blinked back her confusion and gape at her father-in-law. "It's that simple?"

"That simple," he replied.

"Oh my God. That explains why she falls asleep so easily on road trips," Mikasa gasped. She smiled slowly and asked, "So, what else did Annie do when she was a baby?"

Through the house, Annie shouted, "Don't you even dare, dad!"

"I'm not even doing anything!"

"You're talking about embarrassing things; now stop and get in here so you can hold your granddaughter!" Nikolas grinned and sped into the living room, snatching Tali out of Annie's arms and cooing happily at the baby. Mikasa walked in and smiled at her wife, feeling her heart swell to hear Natalia making happy little noises.


	3. Bath Time (drabble)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's bath time for Tali and Mikasa does something unexpected to keep the baby entertained. Needless to say that Annie is amused also.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mikasa is a big nerd when it comes to making her and Annie's daughter smile and no one can tell me otherwise.

"Tali, sweetheart, look over here," Mikasa cooed softly. She grinned when her daughter's big, grey eyes blinked and her gaze shifted to focus on Mikasa. The bathwater was lukewarm, as Mikasa was terrified of getting it too hot and hurting the baby. She hunched over, resting her arms over the edge of the tub to push the floating toys back towards the six-month-old. Tali giggled, her little hands grasping clumsily at the toys, getting the water to splash. The sound was, as ever, fascinating; the little girl began to slap the water, getting drops all over Mikasa's face. "Sweetie, sweetie, hey! Hey, look!" Mikasa grabbed one of the toys- a little tugboat- and held it up for Tali. Then, waving it around a little, she thrust her hand with the toy back into the water, deepening her voice and saying, "The waves are too intense, captain, we won't make it!" This caused the child to squeal gleefully, a happy smile causing her chubby cheeks to raise.

Annie, upon hearing the noise, looked up from her book and raised one fine eyebrow. "What in the name of hell is going on?" Grabbing her phone, she slid out of bed and carefully made her way out of the bedroom and into the hallway just outside the bathroom. She tapped the screen, bringing up the camera and switching it to camcorder. Then, she hit the button to record and bit her lip, listening as her usually taciturn wife made loud splashes to entertain their daughter.

"Oh no! It's Moby Dick! We're done for!" came the falsetto tone of what Annie assumed was one of the crew.

Another voice change announced the captain and this one was gruff. "Ya fools! I'll harpoon the beast myself!"

A great splash followed as Mikasa returned to her normal voice and she mumbled, "Uh oh. It sank." She turned to face Natalia once more and smiled brightly when the tiny hands reached out to grab the boat. "Save them, Tali!"

At the enthused cry from her daughter, Annie let out a quiet giggle, making Mikasa's back tense. As the Asian woman began to turn, Annie hit the stop button and shoved the phone in her back pocket. "That was quite a performance, Mikasa. Ever consider theatre?"

Mikasa's grey eyes narrowed as she gathered their blonde daughter from the tub and began to dry her. "Shut up, Annie. I was just trying to make bath time fun for Tali. Wasn't I, sweetheart?" She dried Tali off and set her on the soft mat, leaning in to nuzzle her tummy, sending the girl into a scream of giggles again. "Who's gonna be beautiful just like her mommy? You!"

The shorter woman stood, bemused, in the doorway. She had expected that Mikasa would be an attentive, caring parent. She had not expected the woman to be so devoted to making their daughter happy at almost any given time that she would readily do something so silly as act out an extremely edited version of a literary classic with different voices. "You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"Yeah," Mikasa replied simply. She stood, Tali wrapped in a warm towel in her arms, and went to Annie, tipping her head for a kiss. "I thought you loved it when I act ridiculous."

"Oh, I do. I'm sure the family will too when they see this," Annie laughed as she brought the video up and let Mikasa watch. At first, her eyes simply narrowed. But then, her eyes widened and a mortified look took hold. "Oh my god, Annie, no."

"Oh my god, Annie, yes. Mikasa, this is hilarious! And it's cute!" She pressed another kiss to Mikasa's lips add she left to go grab her book again. "My dad lives to see you acting silly!"

"God fu-"

"Not in front of the baby!" Annie called over her shoulder.


	4. Nap Time and Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they figure out how to get Tali calmed down for a nap, Nikolas and Carla share stories about the two mothers.

Natalia was screeching her displeasure through the house, making it abundantly clear to all present that she was less than satisfied with nap time. It was at that point, when Mikasa had made her way wearily back to the living room with Tali in her arms that Carla stood up and held out her arms. "Give her here, Mikasa. Let me see what I can do."

Handing the little blonde baby over, the twenty-five-year-old watched as Natalia only proceeded to scream louder and reach anxiously for Annie. "I just fed her ten minutes ago," Annie said with a frown. Just as she was about to reach for Tali, Carla held up one finger. Curiously, Annie raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing.

"Take off your hoodie. Do you have a bra on?" Carla rolled her eyes at the mortified looks on Annie and Mikasa's faces, grumbling, "Good Lord above, I'm a mother too; just trust me. Nikolas, get out."

"Excuse you, Carla," he growled, "but I'm staying right here. I trained Annie from the time she was ten and up through her years of having to get progressively bigger sport gear. Besides, it's nothing I haven't seen." He glanced at Annie and nodded, turning his head away to at least give some semblance of privacy.

Slipping the hoodie up and off of her body, Annie silently thanked whatever fates there were that she had decided to wear a low-cut tanktop. "Actually, that's good enough. Sit down," the older woman instructed. When Annie had done so, Carla set Natalia on the bare skin of Annie's chest and smiled as the baby quieted down, softly hiccupping as her tears subsided. "There!"

Mikasa's eyes widened as Tali nodded off and her little hands curled against her mother's collarbone. "How'd you know, mom?"

"Oh, honey, your real mother couldn't get you to stop crying unless you were against her bare skin. You had colic!" Carla smiled as Mikasa blushed. "Yeah, you were a little cutie but, by God, if someone wasn't holding you, you'd get so fussy!" Turning to Nikolas, the woman asked, "What was Annie like?"

"Very happy and very quiet. Until it was bedtime." He grinned. "She needed a car ride just so she could go to sleep until she was about six months old. After that...all she needed was her Lion King blanky."

"Dad!"Annie hissed.

"Mikasa had to be held constantly until she turned two. Her poor mother was a stay-at-home mom though. Which was good." Carla reached up and patted Mikasa's head, giggling, "You were so needy and cute in your little onesie."

"Mom!" Mikasa's face was, if possible, a darker red and her lower lip was quivering.

"Oh, God! That's the way you used to look when you wanted someone to hold you and all the grown-ups were busy!" Turning to Annie, Mikasa's adoptive mother stage-whispered, "Can you honestly resist wanting to hold her when she makes that face? She's just so cute."

Nikolas grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it to stifle his boisterous laughter. As soon as it had died down a bit, he reached for his wallet, still laughing, "Ok, hang on, you wanna see something cute-"

Annie's eyes got big as she realized what her father was reaching for. "Dad, please, no. Just no."

He pulled out a picture and held it up, chuckling, "Annie was three in this picture and she hated wearing clothes. See? Stripped right out of her little bibbers and everything."

"Bibbers?" Mikasa glanced at Annie, seeing her flash a glare at the man.

"Overalls," Nikolas explained.

"I hate all of you. Except Tali," Annie snarled. Looking down at her slumbering daughter, she smiled and kissed the top of her head. She said nothing as Mikasa sat down and leaned in, resting a hand on the baby's back and kissing Tali's forehead. However, when Tali sleepily reached out and snagged a lock of Mikasa's hair in her little fist, she muttered, "You're both such cute dorks."

Mikasa grinned at that and tilted her chin slightly, getting Annie to come in for a kiss. They tensed, hearing their parents laugh and pulled away to glare at the two. Mikasa asked, "Don't you two have something to argue about or something?"

"Not at the moment," Nikolas replied. He blinked, hearing a knock at the door. Then, when it opened, he snickered. "Hey, look, it's Aladdin."

Eren blinked and narrowed his eyes, growling, "What's that s'posed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing. You just remind me of a street rat."

Carla frowned at this and opened her mouth to protest when Eren shot back, "Nevermind that! I've got an idea and I need you two to help me!" He grabbed his mother's hand and motioned to Annie's father. "C'mon!"

He stopped and pressed a kiss to Tali's head, asking, "Can I have her tomorrow?"

Annie and Mikasa immediately retorted, "Yes!"

He grinned and ran out the door, pulling Carla and Nikolas along, shouting, "Thanks! I'll call you when I'm on my way tomorrow!"

The two women looked at one another, smiling weakly. Mikasa said, "Tomorrow. Just us."

Annie nodded and leaned in to give her wife a much more meaningful kiss, promising silently that they would make up for lost time. She breathed against Mikasa's lips, the hot air sending a shiver down the taller woman's spine. "Good. I've missed you."

Tali stirred then, whimpering and groping weakly for Annie's attention. Mikasa sighed softly, her smile softening as she plucked Natalia from Annie and quietly began to sing, her grin returning as Annie nestled against her side and they lay on the couch as a family, cuddled close and happy to be together.


	5. Night at Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikasa works a hard case into the early hours of the morning and feels herself suffering for it.

" _Christ_ , can you believe the shit that people do?" Jean growled as he stepped over another body. It had been late when they were called about a triple homicide with a loose shooter and Mikasa had been helping prepare Tali for bed. She simply shook her head at the man and looked towards the back of the house. "Apparently, it was a family. Looks like we got a mother and her baby back here."

Mikasa's stomach churned violently as she followed Jean into the kitchen where a woman with bright blonde hair lay in a pool of blood, baby clutched to her chest and unmoving. Her hand shot out, holding onto the door frame as all kinds of images hit her. " _Why? Why kill a mother and child?_ "

"Hey, Mikasa, it ain't Annie and Tali. They're both safe at home," Jean reassured. Then, taking his camera, the man snapped more photos of the scene and instructed the responding officers to call the morgue for pick-up. Going back to his partner, the taller detective leaned in and murmured, "It isn't your family. You gotta separate work and home."

Without another word, the female detective turned and walked outside, beginning to talk to the witnesses. The dead man, according to witnesses, had been a reformed gang member who worked at a respectable warehouse downtown. The woman was his longtime girlfriend and the baby was their nine-month-old son. As she spoke to one of the next-door neighbors, the man revealed that he had remembered the car from a visit the week prior. The description was very detailed and when Mikasa called it in, the car was registered to the gang leader the victim once worked for. "Well, it big surprise. Remember the Titans?"

"That gang that Annie used to run with when we were in high school?" Jean eased into the passenger seat of Mikasa's black car and looked at the laptop she offered.

"That was small-time shit and she got out of it after her dad paid off his debts to the them," Mikasa reminded him sharply. Then, closing the laptop, she slid it into her bag in the backseat and pulled out of the driveway to head back to the station. "I already put out a warrant on him. He's a person of interest. Let's just type up that report."

"Actually, about that, since you're the senior detective-"

"I'll handle it, Jean. Your mom still not doing very good?"

Jean's expression paled slightly as he shook his head. "No...she's holding out since she wants to see me win my first big case but...I don't think she'll last much longer than that." His head snapped up when he felt one of his partner's hands gently squeeze his shoulder.

Mikasa smiled wanly. "We're gonna sink this one no problem. Want me to drop you off at the hospital?"

"Nah. Visiting hours are over for now. Besides, Marco is probably worried. For a teacher, the guy keeps ridiculous freaking hours." Jean laughed quietly as they pulled into the parking lot and waited for Mikasa to reach the station doors before getting into his own car and driving off.

[X]

"Ackerman. Wake up and go home. You're done for the night."

Mikasa's eyes fluttered open as the voice of her chief registered. On the computer screen, the preliminary case report sat completed and waited to be printed off and signed. "Sir, I-"

Nile Dok, the police chief, shook his head and said, "Get home and rest. I'm expecting you back, tomorrow, ready to finish this case. Understood?" When the Asian woman nodded, he grunted in reply and walked off, hauling his coat over his shoulders and walking out.

With that, the woman printed off the report and signed it, feeling her head swim with exhaustion and a desperate need to get home. As she slipped it into her outbox on her desk, she grabbed her own coat and headed outside, feeling the impending air from winter set in ever deeper. Mikasa drove home carefully, only keeping the music loud enough to keep herself from falling asleep. Even as she pulled into the driveway, home was not close enough and she bolted for the door as soon as the car was locked. It was nearly two in the morning as she kicked off her shoes quietly and stalked up the stairs. The first room she encountered was her own and as she looked in on Annie.

Annie was curled on her side, clutching Mikasa's pillow to her chest and Mikasa felt some of the tension in her shoulders ease as she saw her wife's own shoulders move with each breath she took. She snuck into the room, taking her scarf from her neck and leaving it on the nightstand as she leaned over to softly brush her lips over Annie's cheek.

Then, feeling a slightly more urgent need, she left her own bedroom and crept along the hallway to the nursery. As soon as she entered, her eyes locked onto the crib in the corner and she went to it, feeling her heart pound as she looked down at Natalia. She was slumbering away, little body sprawled out with the lamb doll that Annie had given the child. Mikasa reached in and gathered the baby to her chest, finally letting the tears that stung her eyes fall; she remained silent as ever, however, as she didn't wish to wake her daughter.

So caught up in the relief of holding Tali, Mikasa didn't notice when Annie groggily made her way into the room and quietly walked up behind the distraught detective. Blonde hair messy from restless sleep and blue eyes hazy in their state of half-awareness, Annie simply wrapped her arms around her wife's shaking form. She stayed quiet and didn't speak, knowing that Mikasa needed to know they were all alive and well. Later on that day, she knew that her wife would call Eren and Armin to have them come over and hold them as well.

Mikasa had some bad cases. And some hit awfully close to home. That was when Annie understood that her wife's fear of loss was all too real. But what hurt more than seeing it firsthand was knowing that Annie had no way to stop it.

After Mikasa's sobs had finally stopped, she allowed Annie to ease Tali back into her crib and whispered, "Annie, I-"

"Shh. It's all right. Just come get some sleep." After that, they didn't speak until they were back in their room and Annie had once again crawled into bed and pulled the tall detective into her arms. It felt slightly odd for Mikasa to be tucked under Annie's chin but she said nothing to stop it. "You worked hard today." Mikasa only nodded. "I love you, Mikasa. Sleep well."

The sobs came again. "I love you too, Annie." Mikasa cried herself to sleep that night but she didn't have any nightmares. Annie suspected she was just too exhausted but she didn't argue when Mikasa insisted it was because Annie had held her. All she did was smile silently and finish making breakfast.

 


	6. Check-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tali has her nine-month- check-up and Annie finds herself exhausted after the ordeal.

Tali turned to look up at Annie, her pacifier nearly falling from between her little rosebud lips. Annie laughed softly, easing it back into her daughter's mouth and saying, "Careful, don't wanna lose that." She grinned, supporting Tali's back as the baby attempted to bounce on her mother's thighs.

A portly woman stepped out and called, "Ackerman-Leonhardt?"

Annie stood, holding Tali tightly and walking up to the nurse. She said, "Yes?"

The nurse smiled and replied, "Follow me on back and we'll get little Miss Natalia ready for her check-up." They walked back into one of the rooms as the woman explained, "Doctor Smith says he's eager to see how she's doing. This is her nine-month check-up, correct?"

"Yes," Annie said.

"She can play with the toys while I go inform Doctor Smith. He insists on doing everything himself." She smiled. "Just wants to be sure and all that. Go ahead and fill this out and I'll be back in to grab it in a bit." She handed Annie a form asking general health information.

After the nurse left, Annie set Tali on the ground and, instead of sitting in the chair, sat on the ground as well. While her daughter busied herself with one of the various car toys, Annie filled out the sheet and listened to Natalia babble. She smiled, hearing the little girl say, "Mama" again and again. She knew that Tali wasn't trying to get her attention. If she was, it would be far more insistent and a different tone would come to her voice. After she filled out the paper, Annie set it aside and reached over to help Tali sit upright. Once the little blonde was staring at her, Annie smiled covered her face. "Tali...peek-a-boo!" Her hands came away, showing her grin and making the baby giggle in delight.

To say that peek-a-boo was a particular favorite of Tali's would be an understatement. It was typically what Mikasa chose to do and Annie had seen the game last for at least an hour before Mikasa got tired of saying it. What she never got tired of, however, was seeing Tali smile. And it always seemed to Annie that Mikasa had boundless energy when it came to making their daughter happy.

Erwin peeked his head in to see the young mother playing peek-a-boo and smiled to himself. "Well, well, part of my work is already done, I see." He grinned when Annie suddenly looked sheepish. "She seems very lively and responsive. Can she speak?" He approached, going to pick the infant up. He grinned broadly when she began to whine and call for her mama, reaching out for Annie insistently. Without a moment's hesitation, he handed the girl to her mother and brought his stethescope out. "I'm going to check her heartbeat, breathing and we also need to do a blood test. So you'll have to keep her calm."

[X]

As soon as they were back home, Annie fixed lunch and managed to keep Tali from getting too messy with the spaghetti sauce. Natalia, after getting her blood taken for the tests, had been fussy the whole way home. Suffice to say that she was less than pleased with her mother for taking her to that awful place. But as soon as food had been placed in front of her, the baby seemed to be quite happy again. Annie's phone buzzed and she smiled to see a message from Mikasa. **[How did it go?]**

**[Really well. Tali is perfectly healthy and up-to-date on all of her shots. She wasn't very happy with me for a while though.]**

**[I can't say I blame her. I hate it when you make me go to the doctor too.]**

Annie smiled and rolled her eyes. **[You have work to do, don't you? Or does the big, bad detective use lackeys all day?]**

**[I actually have a case, thank you. I was just taking a quick break and wanted to check since her appointment was today. But I'll see you when I get home. Chief just came in and wow does he look pissed.]**

**[Tell me why when you get home. Love you.]**

**[Love you too.]** Pocketing her phone, Annie got Tali out of her high chair and went into the living room, opting for some TV while her daughter started to take her nap. She reclined on the couch, legs bent to allow her nine-month-old a place to recline as well. Annie smiled at her drowsy daughter, gently setting her so that her back was against Annie's thighs and her little legs sprawled over her mother's stomach. While Tali easily dozed off within minutes, the blonde woman found herself watching a local news program for about ten minutes before feeling her own eyes droop. She nodded off before getting to see the weather.

[X]

Although Annie was not a person to jolt awake, the hand on her shoulder was certainly enough to rouse her from her nap. It was already dark outside and as she looked up, she saw Mikasa looking tired. "H-hey..."

"Hey yourself," Mikasa replied with a smile. She was already dressed in pajamas and Annie noticed that Tali was quite preoccupied with her lamb doll yet again. "Want me to make some dinner for you?"

"Nah, I can make a sandwich or something." Annie sat up, rubbing her eyes. "When did you get home?"

"About an hour and a half ago," said Mikasa. She reached over with her free hand and brushed a few loose strands back behind her wife's ear. "You must've been exhausted, babe. I came in, picked up Tali because she woke up right before I got home probably and got her fed, bathed and ready to go to sleep." She grinned. "And you slept through all of it."

Annie yawned, laughing as Tali giggled and reached out with her doll, saying, "Mama!"

"Mama's tired," Annie admitted quietly. She ran a hand through her hair as she stood, asking, "So what was Dok so pissed about?" Mikasa snorted, shoulders shaking. "Well, it has to do with your best friend being married to Marco."

Annie's eyes widened and she grinned, "Oh God, what did Mina do?"

"Ok, so we both know her feelings on how Jean is always bugging them."

"Right."

"And, of course, Jean is my partner at the department."

"Oh my God."

Mikasa said, "She ordered thirty-five pizzas in Jean's name and had them delivered to the Chief's house."

Covering her face with her hands, Annie laughed, "Oh, Mina, you still pull pranks like we did in high school." She sighed, bringing her hands away, and asked, "So Dok came in-"

"On his day off."

" And got onto everyone's case?"

"No, just Jean. I got to listen to it though because we share an office." Mikasa smiled. "It was wonderful."

Annie shook her head and laughed again, holding Mikasa's hand as they went upstairs. "What a day."

"Are you seriously ready to sleep again?" The shorter woman turned, leaned against the door to the room she shared with Mikasa and smirked, muttering, "I never said that." As she opened the door and stepped inside, she added, "I just hope you can get the baby back to sleep as quickly as possible." Mikasa decided, right then, to sing Tali's favorite lullabye and hope for the best.


	7. Fevers, the Flu and Understanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalia deals with a flu and Annie deals with Mikasa's nervousness.

Natalia had shown to be an extremely resilient baby. In her eleven months of life, she had only gotten sick enough times to count on one hand and they were never anything severe. The worst time was when she had to go to the hospital after the young mothers had let her try a small bit of fish. The novel discovery of their daughter's allergy to fish was unexpected to say the least. However, Annie was more shocked by how calm she had remained while Mikasa got nervous.

As they lay together in bed- Mikasa's arm thrown over Annie's waist as usual while Annie burrowed under the blankets- they jolted at the sound of coughing over the monitor. Mikasa started to get up automatically but halted when a pillow was thrown in her face and she heard Annie's hurried footsteps moving to the nursery. "Annie? What the-" The Asian woman got up and went to stand in the doorway of Tali's room, watching as Annie held the crying infant and checked her temperature. "What's...what's wrong with her?"

"Mikasa, go back to bed. I can handle-" The thermometer beeped and Annie's expression became thoughtful. "Just a small temperature. She's barely even got a fever. I'll take care of her." "But she's coughing too-" Annie shot her wife a glare and said, "Mikasa, I can handle this. Go to bed. You have work in the morning." She kissed the top of Tali's head when the blonde infant began whining for her mama. "Hush, sweetheart, it's ok. It's ok." Seeing Mikasa still in the doorway, Annie rolled her eyes. "Get over here and tell her goodnight. Then, please, go to sleep? You worry too much."

The taller woman pouted but said nothing as she stepped closer. Upon reaching her wife and daughter, Mikasa ducked her head and kissed Natalia's warm forehead. "Goodnight, honey. Mommy loves you." Then, looking up at Annie, Mikasa frowned but whispered, "I love you, Annie. Goodnight." As she turned to go back to bed, a hand caught her wrist. She glanced back at the blonde woman. "What is it?"

"Call in to work if you're so bent on helping. However. If you start freaking out like the time she got her first tummy ache, I will get Eren to babysit long enough that I can drag you to the gym and kick your ass." She waited a few moments as their eyes never once left each other. "Seriously. Go get some sleep, call in and then, you could do me a huge favor and make breakfast because I'm going to stay and get her back to sleep." Annie smiled softly. "Love you."

Mikasa smiled, kissed Annie's forehead and promptly turned to go back to bed.

[X]

She stirred when the bed lightly dipped and her grey eyes opened blearily to see the outline of her wife falling into bed. "Mm, Annie? What time is it?"

"Huh? Oh...'bout five-fifteen." Annie rolled over, snuggling against Mikasa's chest. "Please tell me that you don't have to get up in fifteen minutes."

"I have to get up in fifteen minutes-" The blonde woman groaned dramatically, ignoring the way that Mikasa snorted, "so I can call in and go back to sleep until it's time for breakfast." She kissed Annie gently, smirking before pulling away and licking the tip of Annie's nose.

Annie jolted awake and laughed as quietly as possible, sneering, "Oh, _gross_! How old are you?"

Mikasa settled onto her side, grinning. "Nearly a whole year younger than you."

"Jackass," snorted the blonde.

"You married me."

"You were kind of persistent."

"You didn't have to say yes."

"Mikasa, how could I have said no when you showed up on my college campus which was five hours from the academy, played my favorite song on your car stereo so loud that I'd hear it from my fourth floor dorm, and then proceeded to drive me to all the important places in our lives before taking me to the old football field at our high school and lighting over a hundred tea lights to spell out, _'Will you marry me?'_ "

The Asian woman smirked. "Pretty smooth, huh?"

One blonde eyebrow rose as Annie retorted, "More like pretty corny. But sure, whatever floats your boat." She kept a perfectly straight face as Mikasa leaned in close, looking just as serious. "Are you trying to scare me? Because it won't work."

"No. I'm trying to seduce you with my stoic attitude." Mikasa finally smiled, laughing and falling against Annie's chest.

Annie grinned. "You are such an idiot." She peeked at the digital clock on their bedside table and huffed. "Hey. It's five-thirty. Call."

Grumbling quietly, Mikasa reached over her wife, stealing another kiss as she grabbed her cell phone and dialed the on-duty sergeant. "Hey, Freudenberg. It's Ackerman. Listen, I'm taking the day off. My daughter is sick...yeah...appreciated. Bye." She set her phone back down and fell to her side again behind Annie. "All right. Let's get a little more sleep. Then, I'll make breakfast for you."

[X]

Annie blinked, hearing her daughter coughing again. She sat up, rubbing her eyes as she moved to Natalia's room. "Honey, what's wrong?" Gathering the little blonde from her crib, Annie stroked her back and gently began rocking her, cooing, "It's ok, Tali. Oh, hang on. Your nose is running." She reached for a tissue, gently wiping her daughter's nose. As she went about getting Tali a clean diaper and a onesie, Annie noted that her daughter was extremely fussy, making it difficult to change her. "Tali, baby, it's ok. You'll be just fine." She kissed Natalia's temple as she headed downstairs. "Let's go say good morning to mommy."

Hearing soft hiccups, Mikasa raised her head from where she was concentrating on cooking and smiled wanly to see her wife and child in the doorway. "Hey, how are my beautiful ladies this morning?" She set the spatula down long enough to kiss Annie and Tali both on the forehead. Then, gently, she ran her fingers through the soft blonde hair of her daughter. "Still feeling sick, sweetheart?" When she got no response, Mikasa simply smiled and murmured, "Breakfast will be ready in just a couple minutes."

The smell of food seemed to be too much for Natalia though; and Annie, being the one holding her, got the worst of it. However, as a mother, the blonde woman simply took Tali to the bathroom and called, "Mikasa, come watch her for a moment. I need to clean up." By the time Mikasa had made it to the bathroom, Annie was already stripped down to her bra and panties. "I'm gonna start some laundry. Did any of it get on the kitchen floor?"

Shaking her head, the taller woman replied, "Uh, no. You, uh...you definitely got all of it." She watched as Annie took her soiled clothes as well as Natalia's. Then, looking back at Tali, she said, "Your mama is amazing, you know that? She already got you cleaned up and everything." Mikasa picked the little girl up gently, almost too wary of her own strength and afraid to accidentally hold her too tightly. She bit her lip and rested a cheek on top of her daughter's head. "I love you and your mama so much, Tali."

"Mommy." Mikasa's head shot up and she looked down at her daughter in awe as the little girl proceeded to repeat the word. The pair both looked at Annie as she walked in, dressed in a clean, short-sleeved hoodie and shorts. "Mama."

Mikasa's eyes stung with tears and she had to hand Natalia to Annie, fearful of squeezing the infant in her joy. "She differentiates us. She knows I'm mommy."

Annie rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh my God, you're ridiculous." She blinked when Natalia sneezed hard enough to rattle herself and start crying. "I correct myself. Both of you are ridiculous." Gently, Annie began to rock the baby back to sleep. "Your nerves are still shot from that case a couple months back, aren't they?" Tali's tears persisted as she coughed and Annie grabbed another tissue to gently dab the tears away. "Hush, sweetie, it's ok." She eyed Mikasa carefully, adding, "That goes for you too."

"What the- but I already know-"

"Apparently you _don't_ , Mikasa." Annie sighed softly. "You can't be afraid of your own strength when it comes to Tali. I know you don't want to hurt her. But you have self-control. And if I didn't trust you with our daughter, I wouldn't have stayed up all those nights discussing the possibility of having children." She raised an eyebrow and calmly asked, "Did Carla ever do anything to help your colds?"

A thoughtful expression settled on Mikasa's face as she murmured, "She'd run some warm water and make sure the bathroom was all shut up and get it nice and steamy. Then, she'd bathe with me. After I was tired from the bath, she'd turn a humidifier on in my room and read to me until I was asleep."

"Then go get a humidifier set up and going. I'm going to bathe with her and then we can all go settle down and watch a movie."

Mikasa brightened slightly. "Camp out?"

"Camp out," Annie replied gently. She laughed when Mikasa grinned, ducked her head for a kiss and then rushed out of the room to get their bedroom turned into a kind-of pillow campsite.


	8. Tali's First Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ackerman-Leonhardt family celebrates Natalia's first birthday and also learn that babies cannot be trusted with cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no adults in this chapter. None. All of them are a bunch of five-year-olds with a one-year-old.

[X]

Mikasa smiled as Carla entered the house, greeting her warmly, “Hey, mom.”

“Hi, honey,” the older woman replied, giving Mikasa a hug. “Where’s Annie and- oh, hello, princess!” She reached for Natalia happily, feeling her heart swell as the little girl giggled. “Oh, you’re such a big girl now!” Carla grinned at Annie and questioned, “Well, you’ve been a mother for an entire year now. Feel any older?”

Annie laughed. “I think I’ve aged ten years from sleep deprivation.”

Carla smiled softly as Tali played with her necklace, pausing only to glance at her husband as he entered with an elegantly wrapped gift. “Well, don’t worry about that. When she’s older, you’ll sleep a little better.”

“Hey, mom! Hi, Mikasa, Annie!” Eren and Armin stood in the doorway behind Carla, each holding a gift bag in their hands. “These were a couple of last minute things.” He grinned. “How is my favorite niece today?” The man stepped up to his mother’s side, smiling brightly at the blonde infant and cooing at her.

Mikasa raised an eyebrow at him. “She’s your _only_ niece, Eren.”

“Yeah, well, have you guys thought abouthaving another one? Give her a sister?”

Annie glanced at her wife, noting the slight look of bewilderment in the grey eyes and the otherwise stoic expression. She knew that Mikasa would hold no answers and so responded, “We’ll think about it, ok? It’s a really important, serious matter.”

Armin nodded, his chin and jaw lightly dabbled with a faint shadow of stubble. “Understandable. Eren and I have been talking to Amie a lot and she let us know that she’s about two months along. So, we’re gonna be fathers soon.”

At this announcement, Eren looked ready to burst and he bounced on his toes. “I wanted towait until after Tali’s birthday but Armin knew I wouldn’t make it!” He puffed up proudly. “I’m hoping for a boy but I really, _really_ want a little girl too.”

“Boys, this is wonderful!” Carla exclaimed, tears gathering in her eyes. “I’m going to have more grandbabies!”

“Congratulations, Arlert. Yet another Jaeger for you to take care of,” Annie snickered.

“Well, Eren actually does most of the stuff around the house. With law school, I’m pretty busy. So he cleans our loft and cooks most of the time.” Armin stepped forward to hug Mikasa, standing at just about the same height. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy. It really sucks when I have to miss out on things and don’t get to see you and Annie and Tali.”

Mikasa smiled. She replied, “Don’t worry about it, Armin. Soon, you’ll be out of law school and have a little more time to spend with everyone. Besides, Tali loves you anyway.” Her point was made when the little blonde in question turned and reached eagerly for Armin. “Aw, someone wants to hug her uncle Armin.”

“ I hope there’s gonna be hugs left for poppy,” Nikolas said. He walked in and gave an over-exaggerated glare in Carla’s direction before moving to give Annie a bear hug. “Hey, honey. How are ya?”

“I’m good, dad,” Annie replied softly. She looked around at the group and rolled her eyes. “Ok, either get into the living room where we can all fit or get out of my house. This standing in the entryway business is _not_ working.” At this, Armin laughed and Carla just shook her head. Eren and Nikolas each made a show of strutting into the living room as if they owned the place.

As more people arrived, Annie slipped away to the kitchen under the guise of checking on everything. Mikasa smiled, knowing that her wife was simply wishing to escape the group; neither Annie nor Mikasa really cared for crowds and their vast number of family and friends could be overwhelming at times. It was a simple matter for Annie to go, calm down, and return as if nothing was wrong. After about five minutes, Mikasa stood and excused herself. “I’m gonna go make sure that Annie didn’t blow up the kitchen.”

Eren, now in possession of his niece, snorted. “Yeah, right. We better not come in there and see you two-” The back of his head was met with two hits. One from his mother’s palm and the other from Nikolas’ knuckles as he rapped the younger man on the head. “Ow!”

“Let them be, Eren. Your sister is just being a good wife,” Carla snapped.

“As if it’s actually necessary. Annie’s just fine,” Nikolas added.

The Asian woman shook her head and walked out, entering the kitchen to see Annie staring out the window above the sink. “Annie? Honey, what’s wrong?”

Annie startled, turning to look at her wife with a raised brow. “Ugh. When did you start calling me honey? Are we suddenly in our fifties? Did I miss a couple decades?” She grinned when Mikasa’s face fell into a pout. “God you’re easy to tease. Give it a rest. I’m fine.” Her gaze returned to the window for a minute longer as she asked, “Mikasa, do _you_ want another baby?”

“Hm? Well, yeah, I guess so. Why? Do you?”

“I’m not sure.” She paused. “We might need to stay up and talk about it later.” One of Annie’s hands came up, resting on her now flat abdomen. “I don’t want to be disappointed again.”

Mikasa’s shoulders slumped a little before she walked up behind her wife and wrapped her arms around the shorter woman’s waist. “Annie, we have a beautiful little girl. And we have plenty of time to decide if we want another one. Besides. It finally stuck with Tali. Who’s to say it wouldn’t stick a second time?”

Annie relaxed into Mikasa and sighed. “I hate it when you’re right, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I love being right. Because you get this cute pout on your face that I probably would’ve taken pictures of in high school and posted all over the school website.”

A snort, coupled with a small giggle, broke the tense mood. “You’re so stupid.” She turned, looking up at Mikasa with a smile. “C’mon. It’s our daughter’s first birthday. Let’s go see what our morons got for her.”

Mikasa smiled. “Absolutely.”

[X]

It was an executive decision that presents came before cake. Executive decisions were typically made by Annie with the simple explanation of: “I birthed her, so until she can make rational decisions for herself, I decide for her.” Mikasa laughed whenever the statement was made, knowing that Annie simply didn’t want Tali to get her new outfit dirty before pictures could be taken. As Mikasa held Tali in her lap, quietly assisting with the unwrapping of gifts, Annie stood by with their camera, capturing all the smiles that passed over their daughter’s bewildered face.

Eren got antsy, insisting that they should open the gifts that he had gotten first. This struck up a number of protests before Grisha stepped in again and quietly placed the gift from himself and Carla in front of the little girl. And, while Grisha was not an outwardly emotional man, Mikasa could tell from the way his brow went smooth and the slight upward curl to his lips that he was happy to see his granddaughter doing well.

Eventually, all the gifts were neatly stacked into piles of toys, clothes and other little things. Reiner and Sasha, with a little backing from Connie, finally got everyone to migrate to the kitchen for cake. Connie remained standing next to Sasha as soon as everyone was settled. “We should sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Tali!”

“Yeah! Ok, on the count of three!” Eren cheered. He held up his fingers, counting off, before beginning, “ _Happy birthday to you._ ”

Everyone else began to chorus in; Reiner threw his arms over Bertholdt and Connie’s shoulders, swaying with them as he sang. Mikasa jumped slightly, feeling her work phone go off. “No...” She answered, “Hello?”

“ _Hey, Mikasa, put it on speaker! I got a surprise for ya_.” Jean, on the other end of the line, held up his own fingers as he stood in the center of the police station office area.

“Ok, Jean, you’re on speaker.”

The entire office gave a great shout of: “ _Happy Birthday, Natalia!_ ” Which was then followed by an even greater chorus of the birthday song, leaving Tali wiggling happily in Mikasa’s lap and giggling.

“Thanks, guys. I’ll see you at the office on Monday!” She hung up, all smiles and a proud air. “We ready for cake?”

Bertholdt gently said, “Hang on. Tali needs to blow out her candle.” He reached over the table, lighting it carefully.

Mikasa eased Tali up, gently making a blowing noise and saying, “Blow the candle out, Tali!” The little blonde attempted it a number of times, finally giving a happy shriek when her mothers helped the process along. “Ok, _now_ are we ready for cake?”

Eren groaned, “Yes, yes, we’re _ready for cake_. Now pass it out, let’s go!”

Annie smirked and cut a piece, setting it aside for Tali, before cutting other pieces and plating them. She began handing them out to the others and gave a final look around to make sure everyone had some. “We good?”

Carla nodded. “Let’s get Tali to take the first bite. She is the birthday girl.”

With a small sigh, Annie took a fork and held a bite of cake out to Tali. “Here we go. Your first birthday cake.” However, rather than lean forward and take the bite of cake into her mouth, Natalia chose to grab it in her fist. Annie shook her head and laughed. “No, sweetheart-” Everything went silent as Tali bounced in Mikasa’s lap and smeared the cake over Annie’s cheek. Mikasa’s jaw dropped in a surprised smile and Eren burst into a fit of giggles. Rather than get Mikasa who was holding Tali, Annie snatched her own piece of cake and shoved it into Eren’s face, making sure to rub her palm into his nose. “Still funny, Jaeger?”

Eren’s mismatched eyes widened and he shot a glare at Nikolas and Connie who were snorting with laughter. “Hey, jerks!” He tossed a whole paper plate with cake and ice cream in their general direction, instead only making contact with Sasha’s torso. “Oh. Oh my God. Sasha, I-”

“That’s it. _Food fight!_ ”

The situation quickly devolved into an all-out war, even managing to ensnare Nikolas at one point when Reiner took a dab of icing and poked the older man’s nose. Hearing Carla laugh, Nikolas rubbed his icing covered hands together and announced, “Carla, you’re looking a little pale. In fact, I think you’re looking kinda _green_ around the gills.” He wiped the verdant icing on her cheeks and even managed to catch a few strands of her hair before she pushed him away with a laugh and retaliated with a full piece of cake on top of his head.

This continued for a little while longer and then, Reiner and Bertholdt offered to begin cleaning up the mess while everyone else took turns in the bathroom, getting excess cake and icing off of their clothes and faces. Shortly after, their friends began to slowly stream out of the house, followed a little after by Carla and Grisha. Nikolas made his way out, proudly wearing the plate of cake on his head still. Annie, of course, stayed in the living room and refused to even watch her father go in such a state. Reiner and Bertholdt, along with Eren and Armin, were the last to leave. They exchanged hugs and laughs and even a few joking kisses before waving and closing the front door. Mikasa plopped down next to her wife and child with a sigh. “Well. I was not expecting our daughter’s birthday to end with a food fight. And I certainly was not expecting our parents to get involved.”

“Are you kidding me? It was the highlight of my day seeing Grisha stand on one of the kitchen stools and shout, ‘Give me liberty or give me cake.’ I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in my entire life.” Annie chuckled at the memory, knowing that was probably the only time she would ever see Grisha act in such a way.

Mikasa smiled, leaning over to kiss the top of Tali’s head. The little girl was fast asleep, thoroughly worn out by the excitement of the day. “That was definitely interesting. In fact, I think we might’ve seen a world wonder when that happened.”

“Yeah...so. You wanna get her to bed and join me for a bath?” Annie’s smirk, Mikasa noted, was far from simply teasing.

“Give me five minutes to get her changed and in her crib. You can go ahead and get the water running,” Mikasa said. She gently took Tali in her arms and took long, slow strides up the stairs; she grinned when she heard Annie giggle.

[X]


	9. Hard Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikasa and Annie have a tense discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I haven't updated all that much. But I hope that this chapter gives you something to look forward to.

Mikasa ran a hand through her hair, frowning at the array of photographs and documents strewn over her shared desk. The case itself was already annoying her; a gut feeling of knowing that the victim’s brother-in-law knew more than he was letting on had left Mikasa in a foul mood. Jean sat in the chair beside her with his trademark American roast coffee and two sugars. “Think we can actually get this guy to talk? You said something felt off with him.” He eyed his partner warily; it was never good when Mikasa was agitated. When she remained silent though, Jean took note of how her grey eyes weren’t actually focused on the evidence but rather far off. “Hey, is something else bothering you? Are Annie and Tali ok?”

At the mention of her wife and daughter, the Asian woman snapped back into the moment and looked tiredly at her junior partner. “Uhm, yeah, they’re ok. Sorry. I’m not really thinking about the case, I guess.”

“I could tell. What’s going on? _You_ seem really off.”

The woman hesitated. Jean was her partner, yes, and she trusted him in the field. He was a good shot and could handle it when suspects started getting too rowdy. They had been only a year apart in school and he quickly rose in the ranks at police academy, just as she had. But she didn’t want to discuss such a private, slightly painful matter with him. It wasn’t particularly their standard conversation. “Sorry, Jean. It’s...really personal.”

“Hey, no offense taken, I totally get it. I’m just worried, that’s all.” He paused a moment, seeing the slightly lost look in her eyes but not commenting on it. “Have you talked to Eren about it? Do you need to go call him real quick?” While Eren and Jean did not get along, the junior detective was aware that his partner’s brother was intensely important to her.

Mikasa smiled at that and shook her head. “No, it’s all right. I just need to talk to Annie a bit when I get home.” Looking back at the evidence, she noticed something. “Hey, did we compare that fingerprint from the picture frame to the brother-in-law?”

“Holy shit, _no_ , let me go get someone on that!” He rushed out of the room, only coming back to retrieve his coffee and promise to bring a cup of amaretto coffee for his partner.

[X]

It was six-thirty by the time Mikasa got home. Which, by her standards, was much better than the times that she could be out until three in the morning after a stake out. “Babe, I’m home.” Getting no answer, Mikasa followed the sound of movement and soft music. In the kitchen, Annie was at the stove cooking schnitzel and Tali sat in her playpen with a number of her favorite toys. “You know, I could tease you about turning into a regular housewife.”

Annie tensed momentarily before turning and shooting a glare at her wife. “Do it and I promise that I really will drag your ass to the gym for a sparring match.” She smirked. “And trust me, I won’t lose.”  


“Didn’t say you would,” Mikasa replied easily. She smiled and walked up behind her wife, leaning in for a quick kiss. “How was your day?”

“Same old, same old. Minus the fact that Mina showed up. She’s pregnant and expecting a girl. Can you believe that shit?”

Laughing quietly, the taller woman smiled and went to her daughter; as she picked her up, Mikasa said, “Marco must be thrilled. He’s always wanted a little girl.” She looked back at Annie as the blonde female started plating the food. “How’s your work been?”

Annie snorted. “ _Work_ has been great. I’m a freelance journalist and photographer, basically getting paid to document what it’s like being the wife of a detective and mother of a one-year-old.” She smiled as her wife approached with their daughter and she leaned in to give the little girl a kiss. “I don’t think I could be happier.” Grabbing their plates, Annie headed over to the kitchen table and set them down, pausing when she noticed that Mikasa wasn’t following. “What’s wrong? Bad case again?”

“No, not quite. The case is annoying, yes. I almost hate it when my gut tells me something and I can’t do anything about it.”

“Weird, because your gut is as hard as a goddamn rock and it’s never wrong; what’s your point?”

Mikasa sighed and set Tali in her high chair. “Annie...I don’t want to discuss the case. I want to discuss having another baby.” At the way Annie froze, Mikasa felt her heart sink. “Unless you don’t want another.”

Blue eyes narrowed as Annie retorted, “You idiot, _of course_ I want another. But what I don’t want is more failed attempts. Now, can we just...eat and discuss this later?” Mikasa nodded and set Tali’s bowl of ravioli down in front of the girl, smiling slightly at the delighted squeal.

[X]

It wasn’t until much later that Annie spoke again. She simply watched as Mikasa did what she usually did and got Natalia ready for bed. The little girl was always a bundle of giggles for the dark-haired woman and the nightly ritual of a quick bath, game of tag and a soft lullaby went smoothly. It was when Mikasa finally put Tali in her crib that Annie spoke. “I don’t know if I would be all right. If it didn’t work again.”

“It finally did work though.” Mikasa moved slowly to her wife and took her hand before guiding her over to their daughter’s crib. “Annie, look at her. She’s what we got for trying. Our Natalia.” She gently slid an arm around the shorter woman’s shoulders, tapping a light kiss to the top of her head. “If you want to wait-”

“Mikasa, it always felt like it was my fault.” Annie turned her head, effectively hiding her expression from the tall detective. “For all I know, it was something I did that made me...I don’t know. Made me reject it? But it felt like it was because of something _I_ did that I couldn’t manage to get pregnant.”

Mikasa frowned. “We should probably shut Tali’s door and go to our room.”

Annie agreed without hesitation and walked out, turning away from Mikasa completely as her wife closed the door. “We can try again but if it doesn’t work on the first try, I’m _done_ , Mikasa. No more. I’m tired of getting my hopes up just for it to not work and leave me feeling like I’m some kind of failure.”

“You’re _not_ a failure, Annie. It doesn’t always work the first time! Doc explained that to us!” Shutting the door to their own bedroom, the detective left her hand on the doorknob as she watched Annie closely. The blonde was standing at the other end of the room, staring out the window and into the looming night. "Why can't you just...accept that it wasn't your fault and it never  _will be_ your fault?" She took her hand from the knob and ran it through her hair with a heavy, exasperated sigh. "If this is going to make us fight, Annie, then let's just drop the subject."

" _No!_ You said that  _you_ wanted to talk about this, Mikasa!" Annie rounded on her wife, tears beginning to well in her eyes. " _You_ aren't the one trying to get pregnant!  _You_ aren't the one  _hoping_ that your period doesn't come!  _I_ am!" Her chest was getting tight and the blonde knew that her temper hadn't exploded like this since high school. She could see the shock and utter hurt in Mikasa's eyes. Annie felt her shoulders go limp all at once and a sigh left her lips. "You're not the one who has to sit and wonder what you did wrong to not get pregnant."

Mikasa stepped forward hesitantly but did not extend her arms to pull Annie into a hug. "Annie, I know I'm not the one going through that. But I'm here by your side, staying up with you on the nights that it did come and you wouldn't speak." She paused for a beat. "The days that you couldn't even stand to look at me." She saw Annie wince. "And even though I was disappointed that you weren't pregnant, I was more concerned about you. Because you were visibly in pain.  _Goddammit_ , I just want you to be happy!" Her own eyes were vaguely stinging and Mikasa realized that this was the first time in a while that they had actually raised their voices at one another. She still didn't move forward. There were times that Annie wanted to be held after the most explosive part of an argument and there were other times that she couldn't bear to be touched. 

It was only a moment or two that passed before Annie fell forward and wrapped her arms around Mikasa's waist, crying against her chest. After Mikasa wrapped her arms around Annie's shoulders, they stayed like that for a long time. They said nothing and they mutually felt their breathing grow more steady. Annie's soft voice broke the silence. "Even if it never actually became a child...knowing that it's what we were trying for...it felt like I had lost our child when my period finally came around.  _God_ , Mikasa, I felt so  _guilty_." 

"There's no need for you to feel guilty, Annie." Mikasa pressed her lips softly to her wife's forehead, feeling her warm skin. "It's all right, babe, really. We can wait a little longer. There's no rush." Pulling away slightly, the detective smiled down at the blonde. "How about we get some rest. I have that case to work on tomorrow and you have more ridiculous shenanigans to write about with Tali pulling at your pant leg." At that, Annie snorted softly and the ghost of a smile crossed her lips. "There we go. C'mon. Bedtime for us too." Mikasa leaned down to kiss Annie gently and she smiled when the blonde returned the affection. Silently, they both began to disrobe and get ready for bed, finally falling onto the mattress and under the covers with little hesitation.

[X]

Two-thirty in the afternoon the following day saw Mikasa standing in the interrogation room with a cup of amaretto coffee and a scowl on her face. It had all been going rather well until they brought up the victim and the state of his marriage to the brother-in-law. "I won't say anything else. I want my lawyer." 

Mikasa rolled her eyes and moved to open the door. "Fine. I'll call your lawyer and get him in here so we can discuss what the hell to do with you."

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything!"

"You do realize why you're under arrest, right?" Mikasa glanced back at the man. 

"You said for the murder of my sister's husband. But you don't have any proof." 

Jean poked his head in and looked at Mikasa, calmly stating, "Results are back. Linked some partials from the other two murders to this one. And they're _his_."

With a smirk, Mikasa said, "Great. Looks like you guys had a family business going. One of your sisters would marry, move out of state, you'd go to visit after that sister got the life insurance set up and you'd bump off her husband."

The man tensed but simply repeated, "I want my lawyer." 

"Good to go." Mikasa stepped out with Jean and she looked at him. "Please tell me you weren't bluffing this time. Last time, you cut it a little close and the results almost didn't come in on time." 

"No, no, it's all good this time." He handed her the analysis report to look over as they walked back to their office. "See? I'm a bit surprised that they didn't get caught earlier."

"Fingerprint analysis wasn't always as good as it is now, Jean." She smiled, seeing the confirmation on paper. "This is great. We get his lawyer in here, strike a deal and then bring in the sisters." 

"I already had that taken care of." Jean pointed to a bench just across from the reception desk where three women all sat in handcuffs and at least five other officers stood nearby to maintain absolute silence. The taller detective grinned. "Pretty impressive, huh?" He blinked, hearing the tinkling of bells and asked, "Is that your phone?"

Mikasa rummaged in her pocket for the device and unlocked it, seeing she had a text message waiting. "It's from Annie." They entered their office and while Jean called the lawyer of their primary perpetrator, Mikasa opened the message and felt a smile grow on her face.

**Annie: [I wanna give it a shot. Scheduled appointment with Doc on Friday @ 4. That ok?]**

She wiped at her eyes, fearful that a few ecstatic tears would escape.  **[That's perfect. I'll take the day off.]**

And just like that, it was set.

[X]


	10. Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One month and it's so full of surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short but sweet.

At fourteen months, Natalia was on the move constantly. She preferred toddling to crawling, despite the process taking longer. And Annie spent most of her days trailing after the child. It was one such day that Mikasa came home to the sight of Annie catching their daughter by the back of her little jeans and holding; Natalia was bent on getting into the glass-door bookcase. “Always on the move, huh?”

“Mommy, mommy, mommy,” Tali chimed, reaching eagerly for Mikasa. Annie let go of their daughter’s jeans, allowing the little girl to toddle off to the taller woman. “Mommy! Seep!” She held up her lamb doll.

“Yes, that’s your sheep!” She dropped her coat and folders in the entryway, scooping her daughter up and kissing her rounded little face. “How’s my princess been today?” Natalia screamed with giggles as her dark-haired mother began blowing raspberries against her stomach.

Annie sat on the floor, rolling her eyes and smiling at the sight. For as stoic as Mikasa typically was in public, the sanctity of their own home was free game for silliness. “So, is there any particular reason you’re being more nerdy than usual or are you just feeling like it?”

Sitting on the floor across from Annie, Mikasa gently sat Natalia in her own lap and leaned over to give Annie a kiss. “Well, I was going to ask how you felt about getting a dog.”

“Wait, what?” Blue eyes got wide and she stared unabashedly at her wife. “You’re serious?”

“Tali?” The little girl looked up at the taller woman curiously. Mikasa grinned. “Do you want a puppy?”

The blonde infant’s face lit up and she cried, “Puppy!”

Mikasa grinned down at her daughter’s mess of blonde hair before looking back at Annie. “I think that settles it.”

“Mikasa, she’s _fourteen-months-old_ , she probably doesn’t even remember what I made her for lunch.”

“What did you make for her lunch?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Ravioli, what do you think? It’s her favorite. She attacks that stuff.” She paused and leveled a glare at the taller woman. “Oh, _don’t look so smug, you_ \- ow, hey!” She pouted as Mikasa drew back from flicking her nose. “You jerk.”

“Puppy?” Tali crawled off of Mikasa’s lap and over to Annie, tugging on her sleeve and whining, “Mama, puppy!”

“Why were we excited for her to start talking?” Annie grumbled half-heartedly. A small smile curled her lips and she leaned in to kiss Tali’s forehead. “All right, all right, so _if_ we do happen to get a dog, where from?”

“What about the local animal shelter? They get plenty around this time of year. We actually adopted a few Shepard pups and started training them for the K-9 unit.” Mikasa smiled as Tali settled on her wife’s lap and started playing with the strings of Annie’s hoodie. It was heartwarming to see Annie tilt her head just so and smile at the baby, nose slightly scrunched. Tilting her own head with a slightly curious air, Mikasa asked, “So, is that a yes? We can get a dog?”

“Yes. We can get a dog. But you’re getting it trained,” Annie replied. She smiled wearily as Mikasa lifted Tali from her lap and started kissing the little girl repeatedly. “So. When are we going to get it?”

Pausing for a moment, Mikasa held on as Tali continued to wiggle and grab at her scarf. “Maybe tomorrow?”

Annie sighed and stood, moving to grab her cell phone. “Tomorrow it is.”

The detective blinked and looked up at her wife. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m ordering food online. I don’t feel like cooking.” She grinned and received a laugh from Mikasa as she sat back down and put in an order to the Japanese restaurant two blocks over.

[X]

The following day saw the Ackerman-Leonhardt family at the local animal shelter, walking amongst the well-kept kennels. Mikasa carried Natalia, balancing the little girl on her hip and strolling along while Annie lagged slightly. “Seeing any particular breeds that stand out?” the detective called over her shoulder.

“I prefer bigger breeds, personally. I had a German Shepard when I was six. His name was Gadget.” When Mikasa gave her a perplexed look, Annie groaned, “Are you _serious?_ You never watched _Inspector Gadget_ when you were a kid?”

The taller woman set Tali down, guiding her to a corner with medium-sized dogs in it. “No, actually, I was busy watching _Transformers_ and _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_. And _Dragon Ball Z_.”

Annie raised an eyebrow as Natalia gravitated towards a decently sized pit bull. “I take it that Eren had a tendency to domineer the remote.”

Kneeling behind Tali and extending her own hand to the dog before letting her daughter do the same, Mikasa replied, “He did. But I would usually choose _Avatar: The Last Airbender_. Most of the time, I would just read.” She smiled as the pit bull began licking Tali’s fingers good-naturedly. “Well, Tali, do you like this puppy?”

“Puppy!” Natalia put her hands up to the metal bars of the kennel and giggled as the dog sat and quietly licked her palms.

Rolling her eyes slightly but still smiling, Annie turned away to go get a worker. As she discussed the dog’s shots and the cost, Mikasa and Natalia continued to get acquainted with their new friend. With papers in hand, Annie walked back up to her wife and daughter. “Well, our new pet is named _Lady_ and she’s a four-year-old rescued pit bull.” She grinned as the worker handed a leash over and hooked it to Lady’s collar. “Let’s get her home.”

[X]

As soon as they entered the house and let Lady off of the leash, the pit bull began exploring the house in earnest. Mikasa gave Tali to Annie in favor of following their new dog around the house to avoid any incidents. She smiled as Lady looked around; she was curious but not excitable. She had been very calm with Tali in the kennel and to Mikasa that was a good sign. After about ten minutes of exploring and sniffing out her surroundings, Lady sat down outside of the master bedroom and wagged her tail. Blinking in surprise, Mikasa asked, “You wanna look in here? Well, all right.” She opened the door, allowing the brown and white pit bull to look around and associate herself with the space.

Lady very calmly and happily curled up beside Annie’s side of the bed.

Mikasa smiled slowly. “What, you like Annie’s scent best?” She extended her hand to Lady, smiling as she sniffed and licked her knuckles. A shout from Annie about lunch brought Mikasa’s attention away from Lady for a moment, making her startle slightly when the pit bull rushed by. She followed, laughing to see Lady standing right beside Annie as she set the table with sandwiches. “She really likes you, babe.”

With a snort, Annie set Tali in her chair and gave the little girl little bites of the sandwich. “Well, she’s a pretty dog. And she’s pretty even-tempered.” She muttered, “Which is a little surprising, considering her breed.” As she sat and continued to feed Tali, she felt the dog lay down right beside her feet. She smiled, slightly bemused, and asked, “Mikasa, is this normal for dogs?”

“I thought you had dogs growing up?” Mikasa grinned, taking another bite of her lunch.

“I did but none of them acted like this.”

“Maybe...” Mikasa took a quick peek at Lady who simply cocked her head a little. “Maybe it’s because she knows you’re a mother?”

Annie blinked, finally pausing to take a bite of her own food. “Do you think that’s it?”

Mikasa shrugged. “Maybe.” After she finished, the detective got to her feet and leaned over to kiss Annie’s cheek. “Well, whatever. I’ll get Lady’s bowls and stuff all set up.” Giving a quick whistle, Mikasa was soon followed by their family pet as she filled a bowl with water and another with dry food. It was set next to the backdoor and Lady happily started eating.

[X]

It was yet another Saturday that Mikasa was off work and she sat anxiously outside of the bathroom door with Tali in her lap. Despite Annie’s protests, Mikasa had insisted and even managed to make her wife laugh with a statement of, “We’ve been married for four years, I have heard you piss a million times by now.” So it was with a slightly frustrated groan from Annie and a self-satisfied smile from Mikasa that they found themselves in the current situation. Lady was curled up beside the detective’s thigh, tail thumping the ground. After nearly five minutes of waiting, the dark-haired woman looked over at Lady and muttered, “You know something, don’t you?”

The dog looked up at her, tail wagging faster. It was two minutes after that when Annie opened the bathroom door, tears staining her cheeks and an ecstatic smile on her face. “I’m pregnant. We’re having another baby.”

Mikasa shot to her feet with Tali in one arm and grinned so brightly that Annie could’ve sworn that she had just agreed to marry her again. Tali was slightly unaware as to the gravity of the situation but was giggling and hugging her mama and mommy without question. Through her own happy tears, Mikasa kept whispering, “I knew it, I knew it would be ok, I just knew it.”

Annie pressed herself to Mikasa’s chest in a tight hug, laughing to feel Lady stand on her hind legs and put her front paws against her hip. She reached down and scratched behind the dog’s ears. “You just knew, didn’t you, Lady?”

Lady barked, making Natalia jump slightly. After the tears had calmed and the family realized they were standing rather stupidly in the middle of the hallway, they migrated to the master bedroom. Mikasa laid down first with Annie nestling against her side and Natalia stretching out on Mikasa’s stomach. Quietly, the detective looked at her wife and whispered, “Do you want Lady up here too?”

“C’mon, Lady, up.” Annie patted the bed next to Mikasa’s other side and smiled as the pit bull hopped up and walked in a tight circle a couple times before settling down with a huff. They would have time to share the good news after a well-deserved nap and some much-needed family time.


	11. Tali and Lady (drabble)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie shows Mikasa how independent Tali thinks she is.

Annie leaned back on the couch, watching as Tali flopped over an already napping Lady. The morning had been spent in the front yard, playing with Lady and watering flowers. However, watering flowers had quite quickly devolved into Lady jumping and biting at the stream of water with Tali getting soaked in the process. So, one bath and clothing change later, the trio had eaten lunch and settled to relax.

Annie wasn’t anywhere close to showing her pregnancy just yet but there was something comforting in resting a hand on her stomach and knowing that they had another daughter on the way. Her first prenatal appointment had been the day prior and, even though the home pregnancy test had already thrilled her, getting the doctor’s confirmation had made her even happier. Mikasa had discovered exactly how happy her wife was when she had gotten home that night.

As she read, the blonde woman could hear Tali mumbling in her sleep, accompanied by the quiet whimpers of Lady as the dog also slept. It was close to four-thirty when the lock on the door clicked and Mikasa peeked in. She whispered, “Is Tali napping?”

“Well,” her wife began, “she was.” On the floor, Tali sat up and rubbed her eyes while Lady raised her head immediately. She smirked. “Good job. I had a few hours of peace and quiet. And you just interrupted it.”

“My _sincerest_ apologies,” Mikasa retorted, “I’ll make sure to occupy our daughter and keep her out of your hair.” She set her folders and coat aside before going to kiss Annie gently. She then, promptly, sprawled onto her stomach on the floor and reached for Tali. “Hey, sweetheart!”

“Mommy!” The little girl crawled over Lady to toddle to her mother, giggling happily. She squealed when Mikasa rolled onto her back and then scooped Tali up and held her aloft. Tali repeated, “Up, up, up!”

As she was playing with their daughter, Mikasa noticed Annie getting up and she tilted her head, asking, “What’s up?”

“You’ve gotta see this,” Annie smirked. She plopped down next to Mikasa, crossing her legs and scrolling through something on her phone. “I just about died.” She tapped once and then held the phone out as the detective carefully sat Natalia down. “Context is that we were out in the yard and Tali had Lady on the leash.”

On the screen, the phone was obviously pointed down to view Tali as she held the loop of the leash. From the small speaker, Mikasa heard her wife’s voice as she asked, “Tali, say hi to the camera.”

“Hi,” she piped up. She grinned up at her mama, still holding the leash in both hands.

Annie asked, “Have you been good today?”

“Yes, good.” Tali giggled when Lady finally sat down beside her and she smiled back up at the camera and pointed, saying, “Lady.”

“Yeah, that’s Lady. Are you gonna take Lady for a walk, sweetheart?”

The little girl replied, “Yes.” And then, Tali began to toddle across the grass and before the leash could pull tight, Lady got up and started trotting beside her smallest owner.

Annie followed, her quiet giggle in the background. As they began to make a circuit around the yard, the pregnant woman questioned, “Do you want mama to help?”

Turning around just long enough to shake her head, Tali retorted promptly, “No.”

As the video ended to the sound of Annie’s laughter, Mikasa herself began giggling and she ran a hand over her face. Beside her, her wife was grinning. “Told you that you had to see that.” She lifted Tali off of her spot on Mikasa’s abdomen, waiting until her wife sat up. “Apparently, our daughter is now very independent.”

“Apparently,” Mikasa chuckled. She leaned in and kissed Tali’s cheek as she gently brushed her fingers through her daughter’s hair. “Tali, sweetie, did you walk Lady today?”

Their daughter brightened and chimed, “Yes!”

Mikasa grinned at Annie and when her wife returned the smile, the detective inquired, “Did mama help you?”

It was then that Tali’s smile fell and she pouted, “No!”

The homicide detective had to bite her lip as she fought laughter. She looked at Annie and giggled, “Looks like she thinks she doesn’t need your help.” She grabbed Tali and held onto her as she got up. As she helped Annie to her feet, she smiled and leaned down, getting a kiss from Annie before she headed to the kitchen. “What do you want for dinner? I’ll cook.”

Annie shrugged, “Whatever is good. I’m just hungry.” She sat at the table while Mikasa set Tali on her feet, allowing the little girl to wander around. “Could you make something spicy?”

“Spicy I can do,” Mikasa replied readily. She smiled warmly as she felt Tali’s little hands fist the fabric of her pants. Looking down at the little girl, Mikasa asked, “What’re you doing, honey?”

“Wanna watch,” Tali stated.

Glancing at Annie, Mikasa saw the slight smile on her wife’s face and she set down the pepper she had been washing and picked up the little girl again as she went and grabbed a chair. “You’re only going to watch, no touching, ok?”

“Ok,” Tali mumbled softly. Natalia stood on the chair and steadied herself by holding onto the counter while she watched.


End file.
